Stubborn
by TheCrowsNest
Summary: Wally tries to convince Artemis to have second thoughts the night before she's due to go undercover with Aqualad.


**Diclaimer: I own nothing!**

"Are you scared?"  
The question puzzles her at first, although she knows exactly what he means and exactly what situation he is referring to. Blinking once, a little startled although she shouldn't be, she rolls over in bed, facing him. The thick sheets glide along her naked body and she pulls them up towards her breasts as a chill creeps over her accidentally exposed skin in the move.  
She assesses him curiously. He's obviously wide awake, hands behind his head and resting on his pillow as he lays on his back, staring at the ceiling. His red hair is a tousled mess, his bare chest looks warm and inviting, yet his emerald green orbs are distant, contemplating thoughts that often impress her with their complexity. He moves his neck slightly to look at her, and she can't read his face, which seldom occurs. Her boyfriend is usually an open book.  
"For tomorrow?" She asks, seemingly asking for clarification although they both know with grim certainty what he's talking about. "Yeah," He murmurs, looking away from her again, this time towards the door. There's a sad, blank look in those usually warm eyes and it pains her to know that she's the cause for all of this.  
She's been prepared for this question for a long time. Ever since Nightwing rang her a few months ago and asked for this little favor, he's been apprehensive. She can tell by the way that Wally walks around now, the way he talks to her, even the way he eats his cereal that he himself is scared. That he's dreading the moment she'll leave him and put herself into danger. That he's already figured out the probability of them never seeing each other again.  
"It's my job not to be," She whispers, "I've been trained to embrace my fear, basically since birth. I can't afford to be scared."

"Can I be scared for you?"  
The question makes her heart ache, and she can almost feel the tears coming to her eyes. It's one of those little sincere questions that he asks that makes him seem so young. They sometimes make her feel as if she's his mother, which doesn't really bother her although she feels somewhat creepy at the same time. She smirks and scoots herself a little closer to him, placing her delicate hand on his warm torso. It's almost as if her body absorbs the heat and she immediately feels the need to do so many other things, but she holds herself back.  
"Don't be, Babe, I've got this under control. You're freaking out over nothing," She manages, giving him a little smile. He doesn't make eye contact; his eyes are still locked on the door and his expression is stoic as if she didn't say a word. A pain shoots through her chest and she looks away, not knowing whether or not he'll drop the subject or say something else.  
Minutes pass, and she's not sleepy in the slightest, although it's now past 1 AM and she's still got work tomorrow, not to mention the start of the actual mission. She's beginning to think it might actually be safe to fall asleep although his breathing has not changed and he's definitely still awake. Yet, in her heart of hearts, she knows that he's still not looking at her and still wears the same blank mask. It almost stings.  
Suddenly, "I love you, Artemis."  
The statement makes her tense up. It's something they truly mean, but rarely say due to their shared fear of commitment that they learned growing up around their parents. Wally, the sappy puppy that he is, is the only one to ever say it when it is uttered, but it's never often. In fact, the last time he said it was her birthday last year...  
She can't answer him at first, and she knows that he expects this. She has no clue what to say, or whether she should even show that she heard him. She feels him take another breath as if to say something else, but then he releases it and turns his head. She stays silent.  
Without a warning, he's straddling her, bare chest looming over her as he showers her face, neck, and chest with passionate kisses and uses his tongue to connect the dots between all of the drawings he's made with his lips. He tangles his fingers in her hair and she can feel her heart melt as she once again registers how heart broken he'll be when she's gone. How what she's doing is killing him slowly and that he's tossed and turned for nights now. She reciprocates and moans at the appropriate times, running her hands along his body, when she can suddenly feel something wet on her face-Too wet to be his saliva.  
She opens her eyes to see him facing her, tears running down his cheeks. He stares at her sadly, forlornly, and then looks away from her as if he can't stand that she's seen him like this.  
"I don't want you to go," He whispers, gripping the bed sheets with his fingers and balling his hands up into fists. "I don't want you to go."  
She can actually feel her own tears starting to form, which isn't natural for the spunky archer. She hasn't cried in a long time, and it's not completely okay with her that she just might in this very moment.  
"Wally, I have to-"  
"No, you don't," He sighs, facing her again. His green eyes are wild, desperate, like he's using that brilliant mind of his to find her an out or a loophole to this nonexistent contract she's signed with his best friend (whom he now seems to think of as his enemy). "No one says you have to go, Artemis. We're retired, there are other archers."  
She cups his face in an attempt to calm him down, but he reaches up with one hand and gently tugs it away, holding it instead and tracing the back of it with his thumb.  
"Those archers are well-known," She insists, "They've forgotten about me if they've ever heard about me at all. I'm the most logical person to do the job."  
"I could go."  
"We both know that's stupid, Wally. There are only four people in the world, including you, with your skillset."  
He exhales slowly and looks up at the ceiling. Although the tears had recently subsided, a new one falls and he wipes it away haughtily with a little sniff. Turning away from her, he sits on her side of the bed, facing the wall. He's slumped over, defeated.  
"Can't you understand that I don't want to lose you? Why do you have to be so stupid? Can't you understand...?" His voice is muffled and rough, but she still finds it attractive, and she can't resist the pull she feels toward him.  
Gently removing the sheets, she crawls over to him and hugs him from behind, kissing his cheek tenderly.  
"This is for the betterment of man-kind, baby. This might save the world," She reasons.  
"You are my world. That's all I care about right now," He snaps back.  
Her shoulders slump visibly and he can feel the strain he's putting on her right now. He just hopes it's enough to make her think twice, although he knows that she's made up her mind and is too much of a stubborn mule to change it.  
Again, he says it. "I love you, Artemis."  
This time, it's resigned. He knows what must be done, although he's not happy. This support is the hardest thing he's ever had to do. She knows it.  
Finally, she commits to saying it.  
"I love you too, Wally."


End file.
